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Bolex
This page is about the Bolex still camera, which has no connection with the Bolex cine camera series made by Paillard. The Bolex (ボレックス or ボレックスカメラ) is a Japanese camera taking 25×25mm pictures on Bolta film. The film format is mentioned as 25×25mm in the February 1940 advertisement reproduced in , p.93. Description The Bolex is a copy of the German Sida camera. The French Sidax camera presented in Ōjima is a later evolution of the Sida, made in France after 1945. Unlike the original German camera, the Bolex takes 12 exposures on Bolta film, which was made popular in Japan by the Boltax. The body is made of bakelite; it has the shape of a brick with large cylinders protruding at both ends and containing the film spools. There is an optical finder in the middle and the advance knob is at the top left, as seen by the photographer. Numbers are engraved around the advance knob, for a manual control of the film advance. The shutter is tripped by a lever on the side of the front plate, and has Bulb and Instant (1/25) settings switched by a lever on the left. 1/25 speed: advertisement dated February 1940 reproduced in , p.93. The lens is fixed-focus. The back is hinged to the right and contains a single red window in the middle, to set the position of the first exposure. The camera name is molded as BOLEX in the front plate above the lens, and as Bolex at the rear above the red window. Other words are inscribed below the red window, perhaps "Reg. Trademark in Japan". Prewar and wartime documents The Bolex was released in early 1940. The earliest reported advertisement is in the February issue of Asahi Camera. Advertisement reproduced in , p.93. It is the earliest reported on p.341 of the same source. However the date of January 1940 is given in the Nihon Shashin-shi nenpyō (日本写真史年表) quoted by Ōjima on p.2 of no.172. It was placed by Nittō Shashin Kōgaku Kōgyōsha, mentioned as the manufacturer. The camera is said to be "newly available" (新発売). The lens is mentioned as a Nittō (ニットー) 35mm f/6.3, and the picture shows the words NITTOH OPTIC on the lens rim. The description says that there is a choice of three aperture settings, but no such control is visible in the picture. The body is made of "chocolate-coloured" bakelite, and the price is . The October 1940 advertisement in Asahi Camera reportedly mentions a Nittō Helicon (ニットーヘリコン) 38mm f/6.3 lens and a choice of two colours: chocolate or black. , p.341. The official list of set prices compiled in October 1940 and published in January 1941 mentions the Bolex for ¥10, in the same price category as the New Midget I and Guzzi subminiature cameras. , type 5, section 5. During the war, the Bolex was advertised in Japanese magazines until late 1944. , p.341. The May 1944 advertisement in Shashin Kagaku presents the "latest Bolex camera" (最新型ボレックスカメラ) for . Advertisement reproduced in , p.93. The advertisement was placed by Teikoku Shashin Kōgaku Kōgyōsha, mentioned as the distributor. The colour of the camera is not mentioned. The lens is a Torta 35mm f/4.5, marked TORTA 3.5CM=4.5 on the rim. In the text, the lens name is written torita (トリタ) in katakana; the Japanese pronunciation is close to "Trita", certainly an imitation of names such as Trinar, Trionar or Triotar, faking a three-element lens. The people who decided of the actual lens marking were probably not aware of this allusion. The same May 1944 advertisement gives a list of accessories: * luxury ever-ready case, ¥6.10; * ordinary ever-ready case, ¥4.10; * dedicated filter, ¥2.15; * close-up lens, ¥1.80; * film processing tank, ¥8.58. The price of one roll of film was ¥1.30 for panchro emulsion and ¥1.08 for "chrome" emulsion. The June 1944 advertisement in Nihon Shashin was placed by Fuji Shashin Kōgyōsha. Advertisement reproduced in , p.88. It mentions the lens as a Nittō (ニットー) f/4.5 and gives the price of . The October 1944 advertisement in Shashin Kagaku gives the price of , and is otherwise similar to the one published in May. Advertisement reproduced in Ōjima, p.4 of no.172. Surviving example The example pictured in Ōjima and in Takesaki is perhaps the same. It has the TORTA lens engraving and has no visible aperture control. The lens is said to have two elements, and one source reports that the actual aperture is closer to f/12. Takesaki, p.90 of no.51. The advance knob differs from the part shown in the advertising pictures. Postwar period One source says that the "Bolex New" (ボレックスカメラ新型) was released again in October 1946 by Nihon Shashin Kōgaku Kōgyōsha. Nihon Shashin-shi nenpyō (日本写真史年表) quoted by Ōjima on p.2 of no.172. No further detail is known on this 1946 model. The Bolex was reportedly advertised in the January to December 1948 issues of Shoho no Rajio. Ōjima, p.2 of no.172. The January advertisement was placed by Yamanashi Seisanbu. Advertisement reproduced in Ōjima, p.4 of no.172. It presents the "latest Bolex camera" (最新型ボレックスカメラ) in two versions, the model A for and the model B for , but does not elaborate on the difference between the two. The ever-ready case is offered for ¥140, and the price of a film roll is given as ¥35. The text mentions B and 1/25 shutter speeds, and the picture shows a camera which markedly differs from the wartime model. The body has a rounded shape, with a cubic box protruding at the front and supporting the lens. The viewfinder is contained in a short top housing extending towards the right end of the top plate, and the advance knob is at the left. The top of the camera has some similarity with that of the Hobix pictured in Takesaki, p.90 of no.51. The name BOLEX is inscribed above the lens, perhaps on a separate nameplate. No surviving example of this postwar Bolex has been observed so far. Notes Bibliography * Item 247. (See also the advertisement for item 217.) * Type 5, section 5. * Ōjima (大島毅). "Shidakkusu (futsu-sei) to Borekkusu (nihon-sei)" (シダックス仏製とボレックス日本製, Sidax in France and Bolex in Japan). In no.172 (October 1991). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha. * Takesaki (竹崎春智). "Sonota no boruta-han katarogu" (その他のボルタ判カタログ, Catalogue of other Bolta-size cameras). Pp.90–3. The Bolex is not listed in . Category: Japanese Bolta film Category: Bakelite Category: B